There's more to men crying than meets the eye

First it was sarongs. Now David Beckham has flouted the final bastion of masculinity by shedding a tear last week after dropping his son Brooklyn off for his first day at school.

The footballer is not alone. "Big boys do cry," declared the Daily Star, noting a new survey that found 77% of British men think crying in public is now acceptable. "The famous British stiff upper lip [is being] replaced by a wobbly bottom one," it concluded. London men are "most likely to weep", added the Sunday Times, while "Scotsmen are the least outwardly emotional."

Male crying is healthy and should be welcomed, argued Ray Connolly in the Daily Mail. What we were witnessing, when the Olympic rower Matthew Pinsent finally "surrendered himself to the joy of tears" after winning gold in Athens, he explained, was "a process which scientists believe helps rebalance the body's chemistry" - a way of helping mind and body "return to equanimity" after periods of tension.

Today's young men "are more self-indulgent" and therefore more willing to wallow in this catharsis, reckoned the Daily Express's Martin Plummer. Plus, they are "being urged to show their emotions" in the world of the metrosexual man.

This means "men are very confused at the moment," said Jeremy Clarkson in the Sun. "The clearly defined roles laid down for the last several million years have, in the last 20, been turned on their heads."

The right to blub has not been embraced by all men. Richard Morrison in the Times was concerned that "this clamour for strong men to go moist and wobbly" is becoming "an embarrassment to the whole gender".

What about the ways in which men traditionally let off steam, asked the Glasgow Herald's Hugo Rifkind. "What happened to getting drunk and hitting your best friend?" Simple - it's the ladies who are doing that now. "Medical authorities reckon that admissions for female fight victims have rocketed by 300%," he said. Women are "smashing each other up in a manner that was previously reserved for menfolk". It's enough to bring a tear to your eye.